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Marshall was one of four children and was schooled at San Diego High School. While studying engineering between 1956 and 1957, he was encouraged to try acting by a friend, Peter Bren. Marshall was still in the army at this time, but later studied acting at the Bob Gist Dramatic Workshop, while undertaking a course in Theatre Arts at Los Angeles City College.[1]

Marshall has provided consultation on matters connected with his work and with racial issues, and has received an award for "Outstanding Achievement in his field as a Black Achiever in the United States".[2]

In 1965, Marshall appeared in a pilot for a series Braddock. In 1966 he appeared as Luke in Daktari, in the episodes Predator of Wameru, The Killer Lion and Trail of the Cheetah.[4]

Later in the 1960s he appeared in Star Trek portraying Lt. Boma in the episode "The Galileo Seven" (1967). Other TV series he appeared in were Tarzan (the series with Ron Ely), Dragnet 1967, and Ironside. In 1968 he appeared as Ted Neumann, the recurring love interest of Julia Baker, in the television series Julia, a series about an African-American widow raising her son on her own.

Marshall had a role in the 1971 film The Reluctant Heros AKA The Egghead on Hill 656, a film that was directed by Robert Day. This was a war film set in the Korean War with men under a newly commissioned lieutenant who are trapped on a hill surrounded by the enemy.[5] His character as Pvt. Carver LeMoyne was subject to continual racial abuse by Cpl. Leroy Sprague played by Warren Oates. The film also starred Ken Berry, Jim Hutton, Ralph Meeker, Cameron Mitchell and Trini Lopez.[6]

In the seventies he set up his own company called DJM Productions, Inc., which produced television commercials and documentary films.

In the 1980s, Marshall had few roles, appearing occasionally in episodes of Little House on the Prairie as Caleb Ledoux, as Doctor Jim Blair in Finder of Lost Loves and as Senator Ed Lawrence in Capitol.[7]

On set the actors had to perform many of their own stunts and Marshall's athletism came in handy, he credited his previous football, track and pole vaulting work that helped him with the stunts required. In one of the episodes, "Ghost Town", while diving over a fire, Marshall actually dislocated his shoulder and the next day they had to shoot new scenes with Marshall's arm in a sling. Another episode "Giants and All That Jazz" that featured former world champion boxer Sugar Ray Robinson as Biff Bowers and Mike Mazurki as Loach, where Marshall had to teach Biff Bowers how to play the trumpet was one that Marshall in his own words calls "Beautiful" seems to be a favourite of his and made him want to act rather than follow or figure out what dialogue to use or say. He also says that actors had a better time on the set when Irwin Allen wasn't on the set. When he was it was much different and people would get uptight.[13]

In recent years Marshall has written a script for a sequel to the series called Escape from a Giant Land.[8][14] He hopes that this would be a big screen production and would feature as many of the original cast members as possible.

Marshall was subsequently cast in the role of Dr. Fred Williams in the science-fiction horror exploitation film The Thing with Two Heads (1972) which starred Ray Milland and Rosey Grier. This was a tale about a wealthy and racist white man who has his head transplanted onto the body of a black prisoner from death row.[15]